Locking the Gas Pump Trigger

UPDATE: It is illegal in some places to leave the gas pump while filling your tank. After doing some further research, it appears this is done for two reasons. 1. To prevent you from getting back in your vehicle, which can cause a static buildup that could cause a spark (and fire) when you touch the pump handle again. 2. To ensure you are nearby if the auto-stop fails and fuel begins to spill. So, even if your station provides a locking mechanism, the safest option is to hold the handle while filling.

If you’re like me then you like to lock the fuel pump trigger so you can clean all the garbage out of your car while the tank is filling.

Some gas stations remove the device that locks the trigger so you can’t walk away from the pump while it’s filling. But, there is a secret to locking the trigger without the built-in mechanism: stick your gas cap under the trigger.

That’s it. Now you can do other things while your tank is filling, like tidy your trunk or complain about gas prices with some sucker who is attached to their pump.

Chad…This is very dangerous. The fuel cap unlike the human hand is not ‘grounded’ – – when we will the fuel, our feet are touching the ground and release any electricity.

On rare occasions when the tank becomes full and snaps, this can release an electrical current,, coupled with oxygen from the air and the fuel vapours… there are several HUNDERED reported cases of this starting fires…..

This is the principlal why they always say that you need to fuel the jerry cans on the floor vs. the flatbed of the truck.

Check out this video — the women’s rubbing of the sweater causes her to become ungrounded and when she touches the nozzel – – BOOM…

I do find it interesting that all the gas stations in Canada have removed the trigger lock and I’ve only seen a couple gas stations in the United States that have removed it. Any ideas why some stations have it and some remove it?

For the love of God do not do this. I am a manager at a gas station and every time I am outside cleaning gas on the ground I wish I could quit. First of all, it gets on everything and never comes out. Second, it is horrible for the environment. Third, I really don’t want to clean your mess. Is it my job to take care of my store? Yes. Is it my job to clean up gasoline after people who feel the need to multitask at the pump? NO! Just stand there for the whole two minutes it takes to pump your gas.

Sorry Andrea, as a sufferer of Canadian winters, I have to disagree. Standing there for the whole two minutes in -30°C with the wind blowing snow in your face while your hand freezes to the pump handle… I’d rather get in the car and take my chances. If you’re cleaning gas on the ground, the auto shut-off must be broken in your pumps. I’ve been driving for 12 years, and never once has the shut-off failed on me, and thus I have never caused a spillover. If your machine fails, you can clean up the mess!

Chad: only a few of the stations in Edmonton have removed the lock, and I’ve learned to avoid those. Maybe it’s more common in other cities though.

Elbyron I would switch your pump off immediately. Here in Australia it is illegal to have the auto shut off still in place as it is to use a trick to lock the gun trigger. I am over people flaunting their own bravado and breaking the law and thus endangering the lives of EVERYONE at a Fuel Station. Once in a while an auto shut off WILL NOT WORK!! It is fact….just coz it didn’t happen to you today doesn’t mean it WONT happen….

Give me a break. I used to work at a gas station and smoke at the pumps regularly. I am a mechanic now and I watch another mechanic throw his still lit cigarette butts into a 5 gallon bucket of gas that has been drained from a vehicle. contrary to Hollywood’s myth gas is not very inflammable in the liquid state. I am HIGHLY doubtful of static electricity causing an explosion even if vapors are present in open air. Give me a break, that is one mean static spark!

I made the mistake of jamming a pump “on” that had it’s thingy removed. When I got back to the pump it said I had pumped 18 gallons of fuel in my 16 gal tank. I stopped it and removed the nozzle and immediately gallons of gas flowed back out of my car.
UGH!

And then I remembered that gas is a little ‘rubbery’ and can be compressed, too!

I used a pump that automatically locks itself “on” or open. Since I needed the pump to stop at a certain $ amount, the pump would not stop when I let go of the handle or trigger, and in my panic pulled out the nozzle and then I was soaked with gasoline all over me and my clothes and shoes and I’m having trouble washing off the gasoline from them and my person – I still smell the fumes. Are pumps supposed to automatically go into the “trigger locked” position without my choosing to do so? Or is this entirely my fault? I am accustomed to pumps that I have to deliberately place it in the lock position.